* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Dollar stalls as traders eye drawn-out coronavirus battle
* New Zealand dollar hits more than one-year high after RBNZ
* Rising U.S. coronavirus cases also a concern
By Stanley White
TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The dollar nursed losses on Wednesday as optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine was offset by worries about how the drug will be delivered and by a surge of new infections in the United States.
The New Zealand dollar recovered from an early dip to hit its strongest level in more than a year as traders scaled back bets that the central bank would move to negative interest rates.
Initial optimism about coronavirus vaccine testing pushed the dollar up against the safe-harbour yen and the Swiss franc, but this momentum is starting to fade because there are still several obstacles to clear before a vaccine can be distributed.
"The dollar recovery is on hold for now because, when you look at the details, there are still a lot of hurdles to clear before any vaccine is rolled out," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.
"However, the dollar is supported by rising Treasury yields, which should help the dollar make another push higher before year's end."
The dollar held steady at 105.28 yen JPY=D3 , trading near a three-week high.
Against the euro EUR=D3 , the dollar was little changed at $1.1822.
The British pound GBP=D3 traded at $1.3258, close to a two-month high due to growing optimism that Britain and the European Union will agree a long-sought-after trade deal.
Sterling, however, surrendered some of its overnight gains against the euro EURGBP= .
Sentiment for the dollar got a boost after Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N and BioNTech 22UAy.DE said on Monday their experimental coronavirus vaccine was 90% effective.
However, the reaction across financial markets has become more tempered because there are several logistical hurdles to making the drug available, including that it has to be shipped at extremely cold temperatures. U.S. states on Tuesday imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus as hospitalisations soared, highlighting the difficulty in containing the virus as winter in the Northern Hemisphere approaches. dollar index =USD against a basket of six major currencies steadied at 92.741.
The onshore yuan CNY=CFXS capitalised on the dollar's weakness and rose to 6.6001.
Other Asian currencies, such as the Korean won KRW= and the Singapore dollar SGD= , also gained against the greenback.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 hit $0.6904, its strongest since March 2019.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept interest rates on hold at 0.25% and introduced a new monetary policy tool to encourage more loans by reducing borrowing costs for banks, which matched market expectations. Governor Adrian Orr also said domestic economic activity since August has been more resilient than previously assumed, which many traders took as a sign that the chance of negative interest rates had receded. the Tasman Sea, the Australian dollar AUD=D3 also rose against its U.S. counterpart.
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Currency bid prices at 3:16PM (0616 GMT) Description
RIC
Last
U.S. Close Pct Change
YTD Pct
High Bid
Low Bid
Previous
Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
$1.1822
$1.1812
+0.09%
+5.45%
+1.1833
+1.1812 Dollar/Yen
JPY=D3
105.2800
105.2650
+0.00%
-3.08%
+105.2850 +105.0200 Euro/Yen
EURJPY=
124.47
124.36
+0.09%
+2.07%
+124.4800 +124.1800 Dollar/Swiss
0.9149
0.9151
-0.01%
-5.44%
+0.9153
+0.9139 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3
1.3258
1.3276
-0.13%
-0.03%
+1.3279
+1.3254 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3
1.3029
1.3036
-0.05%
+0.29%
+1.3042
+1.3010 Aussie/Dollar
AUD=D3
0.7308
0.7287
+0.29%
+4.15%
+0.7318
+0.7277 NZ
NZD=D3
0.6891
0.6832
+0.89%
+2.44%
+0.6903
+0.6809 Dollar/Dollar
All spots FX= Tokyo spots AFX= Europe spots EFX= Volatilities FXVOL= Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX